Erza's Great Sugar Quest
by Dragon'sHost
Summary: What does Erza do when her sugar supply dries up? She drags Lucy off on a harebrained quest to restore the world to its rightful order.
1. The Terrible Sugar Shortage

**This is dedicated to tbehartoo on Tumblr, as the first part of their giveaway from last year. Sorry it took me so long.**

 **I had super fun writing this, and planning out all the wackiness, y'all. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.**

 **Thanks go to raijindork for helping me edit!**

* * *

Erza smiled and waved at the passersby that greeted her in her early morning walk. The people of Magnolia adored the Titania, and her daily excursions (when she was in the town, anyway) were the cause of some fanfare. Not minding particularly much, Erza just accepted it as a part of being from Fairy Tail, as well as an S-class wizard. All of the S-class wizards had more or less the same semi-fanatical followings, regardless of what guild they were a part of. Including Ichiya. Meeting his fan club had been… terrifying for Erza.

The only the notable exception to this phenomenon was Mystogan. While he had been known, it was more quietly so, as he had obsessively kept to himself (not that she blamed him, now that she knew the truth behind why that was). That being said, Erza was pretty sure there was a Sorcerer Weekly column or two devoted entirely to speculating on his "mysteriousness."

Thus far her morning had been pleasant. Team Natsu had wrapped up a job in the afternoon the day prior, only doing relatively minor damage to Fiore's landscape. So she'd gone to bed at a reasonable hour for once, and had woken up early. She'd gotten some practice with her weapons and armor in for a while, but now it was time for her usual calorie bomb: a scrumptious, beautifully decorated cake from her favorite patisserie.

But when she found herself in front of the shop, she suddenly halted, staring in abject horror at the glaring _Closed_ sign hanging in the window. In all of her years of her (very dedicated) patronage, this was the first time she'd seen this happen. They had even been open after all the damage caused by the in-fighting from Laxus's failed takeover attempt!

Peering into the depths of the shop, she can't see a single sweet thing on the shelves, either.

Mouth set in a hard line, Erza decided to try out her second-favorite shop. Maybe they'd know what had happened. If the shop had gone out of business, Erza would have to hold a memorial service in its honor. Although she sincerely doubted that had occurred, given how many Jewels Erza had singlehandedly poured into the shop over the years. Hell, how many she'd poured in _this month alone_ could have kept it in the black for at least a year _._

No matter. She would figure this out, get her morning snack, and all would be well in her world once more.

Only to find that her second choice had closed its doors as well, the shelves as barren as at the last place.

Dread filled the pit of Erza's stomach. One shop closing was terrible, two was an unprecedented tragedy. What was going on, here? Without further thought, she took off down the street to another shop that she knew of. Closed as well. And the next one. And the next.

Denegation growing with each closed sweet shop she encountered, Erza frantically searched the entirety of Magnolia for a single available cake. This shouldn't be possible! This couldn't be real! Was there not one sweet thing available in the town for Erza to consume? Was she dreaming, still? Was this all just a horrible nightmare, and when she woke up the cakes would all be safe and sound?

After two hours of fruitless – or rather, sugarless – searching, Erza finally trudged, defeated, to the guild. Maybe Mirajane would have something in stock for her. When she arrived, barely anyone was there – it yet being too early for most of the late risers that comprised the bulk of Fairy Tail's ranks.

Lucy was already seated at the bar, idly flipping pages of Sorcerer Weekly as she sipped coffee. The blonde's caffeine addiction was well known to the guild at large by this point, none daring to approach her until she'd had at least two cups in her. It was an addiction that started only after her induction into the guild, as it turned out. She claimed that she needed it in order to deal with her crazy, chaotic teammates.

Judging from the half-smile on her face, Erza deemed that Lucy was already past her grouchy phase, and therefore safe to interact with. "Good morning, Lucy," she greeted her teammate, taking a seat beside her.

Glancing up, Lucy's smile widened upon seeing Erza. "Good morning, Erza!" she chirped back. Then her face fell, upon seeing Erza's misery. "Or I guess not. Is something wrong? Can I help at all?"

Erza sighed heavily. Sorrow coating her voice, Erza explained the morning's tribulations to the empathetic blonde. If there was something that Lucy could understand, it was not getting her morning fix.

"I'm so sorry, Erza," she consoled. "That has to be horrible."

With a sniff, Erza nodded. "It really is."

"But I'm sure Mira can get you something to make you perk right up!" Lucy stated brightly.

Before Erza could thank her, Mirajane stepped out from the back, with an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry, Erza. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ration what sugar I have for a while. All of Magnolia is undergoing severe sugar rationing, in fact."

"Why?" Erza questioned, floored by this turn of events. "What is going on with this city today?!" She slammed her fist into the countertop, her skin beginning to glow and her hair waving all around as she requipped into her standard armor. "Who do I have to fight to fix this?!"

Mirajane giggled, and held out a flyer to the irate redhead. "Actually, a request about that just came in this morning. Seems that a sea monster has been attacking the sugar shipments lately, so it's been difficult getting any supply in."

Snatching it from the barmaid's hands, Erza's eyes roved furiously over the specifics of the request.

"Master Makarov was going to designate it as an S-Class job," Mirajane continued. "Seems that a few mages from other guilds have tried to defeat it, but didn't have any luck." Topping off Lucy's coffee, she smiled at the girl.

"Good thing I like my coffee black," Lucy commented.

"Indeed."

"Where are the boys?" Erza suddenly asked, turning on Lucy with menace in her gaze that put Lucy into instant survival mode. By this point, she was all-too familiar with the machinations of Erza's mind, so she had an inkling as to what was coming next.

"Natsu and Happy are fishing, I think!" squeaked the celestial mage. "And I haven't seen Gray yet, today. Maybe he went on a job…?"

That had apparently been the wrong thing to say, as Erza's face darkened further. "It'll take too long to get them, and I can't afford to wait that long," she announced, throwing the flyer on the bar in front of Mirajane. "Lucy and I are taking this job." She grabbed Lucy's arm and proceeded to drag the yelping and protesting girl through the guild, towards the doors.

"My coffee!" Lucy's arms flailed, reaching out for her mug left behind on the counter. "I wasn't done, yet!"

Mirajane waved cheerfully at the pair, pointedly ignored the terrified pleading for salvation smeared across Lucy's face. "Have fun, you two! Try not to destroy too much!"

"I will make no guarantees!" Erza snarled in return.

Lucy's ensuing wail of despair echoed throughout the guild hall.


	2. A Temporary Sugar Fix

**I'm half tempted to make the titles for these chapters like the Gintama episode titles - long and ridiculous and not necessarily in line with the content. But I think there's a character limit on titles. Boo.**

 **Still got the poll open, for those of you who still want to vote.**

 **I hope you enjoy this new installment!**

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"Oh, Master!" Mirajane greeted Makarov cheerfully once he finally put in his appearance at the guild. The building was still largely empty, the majority of the members being late risers as a general rule, or away on jobs. Therefore, her voice carried across the space, echoing in the rafters. "Good morning!"

The old man approached the bar, basking in the glow that was Mirajane's smile. No other guild was so lucky to have such a wonderful mage amongst their members. Model, barmaid, and S-Class powerhouse. There was no one quite like her in all of Fiore and Makarov was not above bragging about it to his fellow Guild Masters whenever the opportunity arose. "Good morning to you too, Mirajane," he told her, hopping up onto a stool. "How has your morning been, so far? Quiet, I hope?"

A sly smile made its way onto the woman's face, and Makarov nearly rubbed his hands together in glee. No one could quite compare to Mirajane's ability to gather worthy gossip, either. Except maybe Mest, with his extensive spy training given to him courtesy of the Rune Knights.

"So far, only one thing of note," she told him. Her eyes were sparkling with barely restrained mirth. "Erza discovered the sugar shortage and made a fuss."

He snorted. "She was bound to find out eventually." It was surprising that she hadn't up to this point. But then again, the full effects had hit Magnolia with very little warning – Erza having eaten through the sugar reserve in the city singlehandedly before news of the shortage had reached anyone in time to begin proper rationing. "How did she take the news?"

"About as well as you'd expect. She took the job to slay the sea monster, by the way." Suddenly giggling, Mirajane then added, "And she took Lucy with her, the poor girl. She's in for a rough time of it. So is that sea monster, I'll wager. It won't know what hit it." Her grin widened even further, a distinctly malicious shadow passing over the expression. "And neither will Hargeon."

Good cheer promptly vanishing at that news, Makarov visibly shuddered and let out a whimper of distress. Erza on a normal rampage was difficult enough to deal with, but Erza on a sugar-withdrawal fueled rampage was a beast with whom he had no prior experience. Anything could happen; such as paperwork in stacks of heretofore never-before-seen heights. The only bright spot in his immediate future was the notion that Lucy might be a stabilizing influence on the redhead. Though even that was a dim prospect, as he suddenly recalled a blonde and pink duo drowning the same port a number of years ago.

Oh this was going to be costly, indeed.

* * *

Lucy eyed her traveling companion with more than a little wariness, her fingers curled into fists and resting on her knees. Erza, sitting across from her, was perched on the train seat with her back so straight Lucy could have used it as a ruler. Her arms were crossed across her chest, and one leg was draped over the other. If not for the scowl she was directing out the window as the train pulled from the station, and the steady tapping of her finger against her arm, she would have made a very pretty picture.

Of all the ways her day could have gone, absconded with to fight a sea monster with only the clothes on her back and her whip and keys was not high up there in Lucy's expectations. She'd been hoping for a quiet day off, since they'd just finished up a job the day before. Now here she was, being dragged off on what would probably turn into a high-stakes adventure on the high seas. Not her favorite way to spend her day.

Also, the fact that the job was designated S-Class had her pretty worried. The last one she'd gone on had involved a cursed island and a frozen demon of Zeref. Then again, she had faced down several literal, actual demons of Zeref on her own before. But she wasn't exactly keen to repeat the experience even if the sea monster was truly only that. The way things usually went in her life, though, gave her severe doubts as to that. What kind of sea creature went after sugar shipments? She would believe it was a simple sea monster when she saw it.

At least Natsu wasn't there to get motion sick all over the place. Lucy at least had that small comfort.

A noise of frustration left Erza's lips, causing Lucy to jolt from the sudden sound. Resulting in a little bounce in her seat that did not escape Erza's attention, the redhead turning her head to peer at Lucy.

Stare piercing into her, Lucy felt like she was being observed by a monster held back only by a flimsy chain made of filigree. Mouth gone dry, she swallowed thickly. "Hey, Erza – I bet the food car has some candy or something," she suggested helpfully, hoping to direct that uncanny stare elsewhere. "If you're craving something — Aaand she's gone." The redhead had bolted before Lucy had even finished her sentence, presumably headed straight for the food car. Lucy thought she'd caught a glimpse of Erza's Flight Armor on her, too. Not envying whoever had the misfortune to stand in the Titania's path, Lucy let out a sigh of relief and turned to face the window.

At least she had her keys and wallet with her, she mused. Even if she was lacking other basic necessities – like a toothbrush. The coffee from earlier had left her with an unpleasant aftertaste in her mouth. A little cleansing milk or cream would have washed it right out, but she hadn't exactly gotten the opportunity to drink any.

Something cold and wet touched her cheek, and Lucy let out a squeak of alarm at the sudden contact. Twisting in her seat, she gazed up into Erza's amused brown eyes. "I brought you a drink," she stated, with a slight shake of the pink plastic cup in her hand, beads of condensation ran down the side. Another cup, twin to the first, was held in her other hand. "Strawberry smoothie. No milkshakes, sadly. It's thanks for coming along with me on this job on such short notice."

' _Short notice'_ wasn't exactly the phrasing that Lucy would have used for what had happened, but she could feel a smile creeping across her face all the same – touched by the redhead's thoughtfulness in bringing her the drink. "Thank you," she replied, genuine gratefulness in her voice. Gently taking the cup from her, she put the straw in her mouth. A moan at the delicious sweetness – all from the natural sugars within the fresh strawberries – fell from Lucy's lips before she could stop herself.

Erza raised an eyebrow at her, and Lucy's face heated up in embarrassment. "It's really good," Lucy mumbled, and then stuck the straw back in her mouth so she wouldn't embarrass herself further.

"When we get to Hargeon, we'll check in with the local Rune Knights," Erza stated. "They're the ones that posted the job. They have no jurisdiction to deal with non-magical problems, and the royal army has no jurisdiction in international waters." Her ability to think and be calm seemed to be restored by the brief sugar boost she'd gotten from the smoothie. "They should have transportation ready to take us out to the ship carrying the next sugar shipment in from Minstrel. There shouldn't be any other magical security on the ship – they're the ones that negotiated with the Rune Knights for our protection. So there shouldn't be any other mages for us to trip over. After that, we'll spend a couple days on the ship and wait for the sea serpent."

Lucy blinked owlishly at her friend. "I don't think I saw that much information on the job flyer."

With a shake of her head, Erza replied, "I contacted the Hargeon Rune Knights already about it. They'll be waiting at the train station for our arrival."

' _When?!'_ Lucy thought, incredulous. _'When did she have the time to do that?!'_ Going over the timeline thus far in her head didn't help at all. The insane woman had dragged Lucy with her directly from the guild to the train station, and had only left her side for two minutes to buy a ticket and to get drinks on the train. _'When did she discuss this?'_

"Is something the matter, Lucy? Your expression is strange."

Bewildered still, Lucy shook her head. "It's nothing, Erza. It's nothing."

Erza looked unconvinced, but did not press further.

Several minutes passed in silence between them. Until suddenly Erza pondered aloud, "I wonder if we'll be allowed to sample the goods while we're aboard the ship…?"

Cold sweat broke out all over Lucy's body at the prospect. Mental images of Erza eating through the entire cargo filled her head, along with all the horrors a sugar-high Erza could accomplish.

She would need to keep a very, very close eye on the redhead.


	3. Officially Underway

**It's been a little while, but I hope you enjoy this newest installment. I had a lot of fun with it.**

 **I'll be doing my best to get this one out on a monthly basis until it's complete.**

* * *

True to Erza's word, two Rune Knights were waiting for the women on the platform. "Thank you for coming," the shorter one told them. "As per your request, the ship is ready for departure. If you'll follow us, you can get underway immediately."

Lucy shot an irritated look at Erza, which the redhead did not take notice of. Great, now she wouldn't be able to pick up a toothbrush, or a hairbrush. Or deodorant, for that matter. She was going to be one miserable, _ripe_ human being if this job lasted any real length of time. There was no way she was asserting herself in front of two authority figures and Erza at the same time, so she was stuck going along for the ride for now. Hopefully someone on one of the two ships would have the basic necessities she required. But if anyone – even Erza – had the gall to point out anything about her situation while on this job, Lucy was going to deck them. Even if she ended up breaking her hand on Erza's armor.

"Thank you," Erza replied with a firm nod. "We would like to reach the sugar transport ship as soon as possible. How long will it take to ferry us out to it?"

"No more than a day," the first knight replied, clearly the one in charge. "The ship is relatively close to Hargeon. The boat will take you out, and you'll reach your destination by mid-morning tomorrow." She indicated that they should follow her with a sweep of her arm. "This way. Since the attacks have been occurring Bosco waters instead of Fiore's, there hasn't been much we can do without the proper channels running their course."

"So that's why we've been hired." Lucy nodded in understanding as she side-eyed the pair of Rune Knights. "A few mages, hired by the transport company, to defend their shipment is less of political gaffe than the army 'invading' another country's waters."

The Rune Knight smiled slyly at the celestial mage. "I wouldn't know anything about it. We have no hand in any political maneuvers of Fiore's government," she told them with a twinkle in her eye. "We're just here to caution you that, while guilds under Era's authority have the autonomy to cross country borders without inciting an incident by itself, please do not do anything that would get you landed in prison. Era's ability to negotiate for mages belonging to a country other than the one in which they have been imprisoned is... not as strong."

"So you're saying that we're on our own if we call too much attention to ourselves." Erza let out a snort. "Understood."

As they made their way to the harbor, Lucy wondered how long Erza's temporary sugar fix was going to last. For all that the smoothie had been delicious, the actual amount of fructose in it wasn't very high – especially when compared to the daily dosage that Erza's body was accustomed to receiving. And then they'd be… stuck on a boat together… for almost an entire day.

Could Lucy possibly convince Virgo to bring her treats from the Celestial World for Erza, just to tide her teammate over until they reached the mother-lode of sugar? It might be worth a shot. Lengthening her stride a little, as she had begun to fall back slightly, Lucy caught up to Erza and tapped her elbow. Now that Lucy had her attention, she related her idea to the redhead.

Relief swept across Erza's face, and she grasped Lucy's hands in her own without slowing her pace in following the Rune Knights, forcing the blonde into a very awkward position as she kept up with her. "That would be… that would…" Erza sniffed hard, her eyes welling up with tears of intense gratitude. "You are so kind to me, Lucy," she gushed.

The red of embarrassment crept through Lucy's face, as she keenly felt the silent but attentive gaze of their accompanying Rune Knights. "It's… It's no big deal, Erza," she told her, sweat sliding down her cheek. "What else are friends for?" Probably not this, she internally conceded. The offer arose mostly out of a sense of self-preservation. Lucy couldn't help feeling a little guilty about that, seeing how happy it made Erza... and more than a bit conflicted over the thought that she was offering to - essentially - become Erza's drug dealer.

The heretofore silent Rune Knight coughed politely, drawing the pair's attention to him. "We've arrived at the harbor," he informed them politely, yet there was a distinct curl of amusement in his lips as Erza's released Lucy's hands and returned to her businesslike demeanor. "The ship is docked down this way."

"Good. Tell me, is the ship captained, or will we be in charge of sailing her ourselves?"

It was a good question, and one Lucy mentally kicked herself for not having asked about that particular detail prior to now.

"She has a captain already," the first Rune Knight reassured them, her gaze on Lucy's panicked expression as she did so. "So there will be no need to sail her yourselves. There is a crewman on board, as well, to take the helm if the need arises."

A rush of air left Lucy's lungs. "Oh thank god."

Erza glanced at her companion curiously, but did not see fit to comment on Lucy's obvious relief. "One less concern for us, then," she told them. "This will leave us free to come up with a battle tactic, Lucy."

The blonde nodded, her relief swiftly turning to resignation. "Got it." Honestly, they hadn't even gone out to sea yet and she already felt like she was adrift. Erza had quite the way of bringing to the surface Lucy's full range of emotions in a short span of time.

Though it did bring up the issue in Lucy's mind about how they were to fight a creature of the sea effectively, given that neither of them could enter the water freely, and Lucy no longer had Aquarius.

Regardless, it was with relatively amazing swiftness that Lucy found herself standing at the dock slip of the boat that would take them out onto the open ocean. It was hardly more than a dinghy, she realized with a surge of dread. It was a fishing boat, with what appeared to be a small cabin, with a bunk bed below decks, but contained very little else aside from the rigging and fishing gear. The close accommodations would be tough to share with Erza for the time it would take them to get there, and they would clearly be sharing the bed given that the captain's other half would be taking one of the bunks for himself so he could switch with the captain halfway. It was going to be a rough night for her, the blonde was certain.

Lucy did spy a coffeepot in there, however, so at least she wouldn't have to worry about her caffeine fix. That was something, at least. Erza's sugar withdrawal would be enough to contend with on its own.

"Cozy," was all Erza had to say about the close quarters in which they found themselves. The assessment wasn't… incorrect, Lucy had to acknowledge. "Excuse me, Captain," the mage addressed the older man in whose care they had been left. "Do you have a sea chart of where we're going?"

He let out a chuckle. "It's just 'chart,' miss. Adding 'sea' to it would be redundant. And I do, but I need to finish a couple of last minute preparations first. As soon as we're under way, I'll get that for you lovely ladies."

While he hustled about along with his crewmate, Lucy turned to Erza. The woman's sugar fix must be wearing off, Lucy realized, spotting the telltale tapping of Erza's gauntleted finger against the small table at which they sat. "So," she addressed Erza, hoping to forestall the redhead from taking command of the vessel herself in her impatience (wouldn't be the first time Lucy had seen her do just that). "How are we going about this?"

Erza gazed at her curiously. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"I mean… how are we going to fight that sea monster? For that matter," Lucy added, "did the Rune Knights happen to mention what _kind_ of sea monster we'll be dealing with?"

"A soon-to-be-dead one," Erza replied, a dark look in her brown eyes.

 _Never stand between Erza and her sugar!_ Lucy thought to herself. "Right," she agreed aloud, sweat running down the back of her neck. "But aside from that, is it a sea serpent?" She thought she might recall Erza having said that, but she wasn't completely certain. "A giant shark? A kraken? A species of mole? Because I'm telling you right now – I'm not handling tentacles. No thank you. Not happening."

Her companion regarded Lucy sternly. "Isn't that something you should have found out before agreeing to come with me?"

 _There was no agreement! None! You dragged me here! Against my will and without a toothbrush!_

Lucy cleared her throat, pushing all of her protestations to the back of her mind. "Be that as it may. Any ideas?"

With a shake of her head, Erza closed her eyes and sighed. "No, they didn't happen to mention it. I'm not sure that they knew, however. Otherwise that information would have been included in the job flyer. I assume it's a sea serpent, however. They're the most common nuisance to ships in this area of the sea. Krakens are usually farther out by the deep water trenches. Sea serpents prefer the warmer waters of the Boscoan Sea."

That made sense to the celestial mage. "Okay. So how do we fight this thing without it taking the ship down with it?" This was the most pressing concern for Lucy. She no longer had Aquarius's key, after all. And even if she did, the violent mermaid wasn't exactly the greatest option when she wanted to keep the ship afloat as well.

"I do have a plan, yes."

Lucy leaned forward a little, excited that Erza already had an idea about what to do. "What is it?"

"We hit it first," Erza stated simply. "We hit it really hard and make it regret ever threatening the sugar shipments."

Lucy outright slapped her forehead at that. "Oh boy," she muttered. "This is going to be more difficult than I thought."


End file.
